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Gators earn a 25th commitment for 2010, but lose a quarterback to Charlie Strong

When Charlie Strong accepted the head coaching job at Louisville on Dec. 9, he said in his introductory press conference that, out of respect to the Gators, he won’t call any of their recruiting targets to try to sway them to Louisville.

“If they call me I will talk to them, but I’m not going to pick up the phone and say hey,” Strong said at the time. “Anyone that they have committed, or someone that I know that they really want, I’m not going to touch.”

Well the Gators must really not have wanted three-star Columbus, Ga. quarterback prospect Marcus Smith, who committed yesterday to Louisville. Smith told the Louisville Courier-Journal that he thought he was going to be a gator until Strong called him before the weekend and convinced him to visit UL.

“If Louisville would have never been in the mix, I would have probably went to Florida,” said Smith, a 6-foot-3, 210-pound quarterback. “But I’m glad Louisville came into the mix. I like Coach Strong a lot, and I really wanted to play for Coach Strong.”

Smith, though, likely didn’t pick Louisville over Florida in a vacuum. The Gators already have quarterbacks John Brantley, Jordan Reed and Trey Burton already on scholarship, and Florida probably doesn’t have any room for a three-star quarterback in its 2010 recruiting class, with signing day 17 days away and most spots already taken.

After this weekend, the Gators already have 25 players committed to the Gators for 2010. Atlanta-area linebacker Michael Taylor, who de-committed from Tennessee after Lane Kiffin bolted for USC, officially committed to the Gators on Sunday, according to multiple media reports.

“After all this mayhem happened with Tennessee I was like, ‘Wow, I found a home that I like a lot better than Tennessee,'” said Taylor, a four-star prospect.

If all 25 players remain committed to the Gators, then only three spots remain for the 2010 class, and the Gators are reserving them for players like Seantrel Henderson, Adrian Coxson and Christian Jones.

The Gators currently have the No. 1 recruiting class in the country according to all three major recruiting services: Rivals, Scout and ESPN.